Muratsuchi Coming Back in 2016? (From Rafu Shimpo)

http://www.rafu.com/2014/11/muratsuchi-plans-to-run-again-in-2016/

Former Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) issued the following statement to his supporters on Dec. 2, the day after Republican David Hadley was sworn in as the new representative of the 66^th Assembly District.

The final count in the Nov. 4 election showed Hadley with 54,401 votes (50.3 percent) and Muratsuchi with 53,695 (49.7 percent), a difference of 706 votes.

 

Thanks to you, I had the privilege of representing the beautiful South Bay as a California State assemblymember for the past two years.

Al Muratsuchi (Rafu Shimpo photo)

With all the votes counted, I came less than one percent short of re-election. While I am confident of my record, I could not overcome a historic low voter turnout in a competitive district, combined with an unprecedented $1.4 million smear campaign bankrolled by billionaire outsider Charles Munger and other special interests.
Regardless of the election outcome, I am proud of my record of working across party lines to focus on common sense priorities like jobs, education, the environment, and fiscal responsibility. Some highlights of my record:
• Delivering balanced budgets with over a billion dollars in reserves, without voting for a single tax increase
• Enacting job-creator laws such as AB 777, which cuts taxes to help the aerospace industry create jobs, and AB 2188, which streamlines regulations to incentivize solar energy and support small businesses
• As chairman of the Budget Subcommittee on education funding, restoring over $10 billion in funding for our schools, community colleges, and universities, and saving career technical education programs like the Southern California Regional Occupational Center
• Receiving the Legislator of the Year Award from the California Solar Energy Industry Association, American Veterans (AMVETS), Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, Global Automakers Association, California Community College Association for Occupational Education, and the Boys and Girls Club of the South Bay
I could not have done all this without your support. I thank you with all my heart.
As for me, I’m not done fighting. I am preparing for a comeback in 2016, and I would appreciate your ongoing support.
Happy Holidays!

Anti-Tribute to Al Muratsuchi

Albert Muratsuchi, state prosecutor and school board member, jumped into the 66th Assembly at just the right time.

He had money from all over the state (most outside of the district), and the national election improved his chances, too. Despite his small registration advantage ( 36% Dem, 33% GOP), Muratsuchi and his special interest hordes relentlessly, immorally, and falsely attacked the Republican challenger.

The lies were so bad, Huey filed a lawsuit against Muratsuchi. Despite the best efforts, and extensively volunteering, Huey did not carry the seat.

From the moment the former prosecutor and school board member unloaded on conservative Republican Craig Huey in 2012, I wanted to see him tank.

In 2014, tank he did.

As soon as he announced his intentions of the 66th Congressional district in 20120, Al Muratsuchi got into a mess he was never prepared for.

The Citizens Redistricting Commission did an adequate job of evening out the seats, and removing the partisan gerrymandering which had marginalized South Bay voters for decades. The seat leaned slightly Democratic based on registration, but with the right ground game, a Republican had a strong opportunity of taking the seat.

Still, from the first week of January, two Republicans were ready to fight for the seat, and Muratsuchi could take advantage of the divide and conquer.

Representing a fiscally conservative seat in a Democratic Party which has been coopted by the left, the school board trustee had not reason to trust that his ride would be an easy one.

What was Muratsuchi thinking?

I am glad to see him gone.

One has to wonder - what was the Democratic Party thinking in vetting his guy to run for state Assembly in 2012?

They judged Muratsuchi by the color of his skin, not the content of his character, pure and simple. The California Democratic Party has referred to the South Bay as "The Asian Seat" for years. Now, we can remind them that this seat, like every other, belongs to the voters, and seeks representatives who take their oath of office seriously.

For a man who claimed to uphold the Constitution, he spent an excessive amount of time denigrating people who care about this nation's founding document. He also spent a great deal of his campaigning and legislative work ignoring the charter, too.

Muratsuchi supported drivers licenses for illegal immigrants. He voted to allow boys to go into girls' bathrooms in public schools, and vice versa. He helped cut key funding to local schools, as well. He claimed to promote aerospace investments, then turns around and votes with the tax-and-spendthrift state legislature which pushed away strong businesses like Toyota, Charles Schwab, and Tesla.

This man was pro-Sacramento, not pro-business. This man was  a union puppet, not a man of the people.

With the anti-incumbent, and anti-Democratic sentiment in the 2014 election air, no wonder Muratsuchi tried to bail on this seat and run for state senate seat vacated by Ted Lieu. Democratic Party leaders pushed him back into his seat, and dumped millions of dollars on his race.

Yet he still lost. For all the talk about the corrosive influence of money in politics, the 66th Assembly race in Election 2014 proves once again that no politician can buy a seat anymore.

Muratsuchi lined up purported support from Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. Yet flashy fliers and big name endorsements do not an election win create. Voters are worried about their future, the economy, the opportunities for their kids. Local schools are still suffering brutal neglect and financial mismanagement from Sacramento, and public sector unions are still calling too many of the legislative shots on both sides of the aisle.

Muratsuchi was the poster boy for upstart liberalism trying to play the game. He had 2012 momentum, but by 2014, even liberals soured on the Obama brand, and Muratsuchi's chances soured with it.

Muratsuchi Desperation: "Hadley Belongs in Jail"

I have seen desperate campaign ads in the past.

This year, the Democratic Party across the country is pulling all the last-minute stops.



Southern Democratic candidates and incumbents are resorting to the race card to turn out the minority vote which propelled Obama to the White House in 2008 and propped up his reelection in 2012.

A mailer targeting North Carolina Republican challenger Thom Tillis weakly tied his support for stand your ground laws to the death of Trayvon Martin in Florida.

Even liberal Fox News contributor Juan Williams found that mailer offensive.

Louisiana incumbent Mary Landrieu shamed her Big Easy constituents by suggesting that she and President Obama are unpopular because of the sexist, racist animus which persists in the South.

Yet there she is, a white Southern woman running for office, seeking the black vote. Thad Cochran resorted to similar race-baiting tactics to win the black vote in Mississippi, and then there's two other female Senate candidates, incumbent Kay Hagan in North Carolina, and challenger Michelle Nunn in Georgia.

Nunn's campaign office had prepared an offensive "minority hit list" to replenish Democratic coffers, too. Other mailers distributed in the state suggested that a Republican victory would bring back the ante-Bellum lynching culture which intimidated black voters.

These mailers are deeply offensive and historically flawed, since the Democratic Party sponsored institutional racism against black voters for decades.

Now turning to a lesser-highlighted state assembly race in Southern California, one finds an incumbent Japanese-American Democrat in the fight of his political career against businessman and party activist Republican David Hadley.

The race card has not come up in this district, apart from Muratsuchi's support for SCA 5, which would have reintroduced race as a key factor in college admissions. A large cohort of Asian-Americans, Republican and Democrat, resisted this reactionary policy, and Democratic minority voters threatened to vote GOP to intimidate the legislature away from the policy. State Senator Ted Lieu, one of Sacramento's most left-leaning lawmakers, voted against the proposal, and loss key support in his primary fight for the 33rd Congressional District.

Since the race card has not played much influence in this race, Muratsuchi has played the "Wall Street" card against Hadley. Has earning money and representing a financial firm turned into a stigma in this country?

Hadley's firm was unaware of obscure national security provisions when brokering a financial transaction in another state. His firm paid a fine, obtained a requisite license, then concluded the deal.  Another setback dealt with the Hadley's campaign setting up different committee accounts for funding outreach, messaging, and GOTV. The group's leaders had believed, understandably, that their group counted as a political action committee, and thus they could make unlimited donations to Hadley and other campaigns. Because of this mistake, Hadley returned the money.

Al Muratsuchi has made similar mistakes, and so has US Senator Dianne Feinstein. They both paid tens of thousands of dollars in fines. The double-standard on campaign funding has reached new levels of idiocy. How can one not break the law when seeking to collecting and spend money on political campaigns these days?

At any rate, these two errors have turned into a last-ditch desperate effort from the Muratsuchi camp to play the "Wall Street" card.

The latest mailer from AlForAssembly.com reads:

"David Hadley doesn't belong in the Assembly. He belongs in jail."

I burst out laughing when I read that by-line.



David Hadley

Really? David Hadley belongs in jail for two mistakes on financial management?

And what about the four Democratic state senators, who have been arrested, indicted, or convicted for felonies relating to public safety and corruption? Or Former mayor Bob "Filthy" Filner and his record of sexual assault?

Not a peep out of Muratsuchi about these flagrant crimes. Not only that, but Muratsuchi's support for AB 375, a bill vetoed by Governor Brown, indicates that Muratsuchi wanted to make it harder to jail bad teachers, too.


And yet he wants to throw Hadley in jail?

Not exactly the race card, and just as misleading and pathetic as charges of "Tea Party Extremism", Muratuschi's latest "Wall Street" attacks is another failing example of Democrats' flailing desperation to survive a rising GOP wave in California and across the country.

Real Education Reform for the South Bay

Responding to the disturbing, unethical pay package which now-fired superintendent Jose Fernandez was taking (including a $1 million no interest loan), Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi authored a bill which would limit salaries to school district superintendents.

Muratsuchi did nothing for our schools

For a man who trumpets his support for local schools, why did he approve Governor Brown's Local Control Funding Formula, which is depriving South Bay Schools of much-needed funding?

Hermosa Beach City School District is one of the highest performing school districts in the state, and now they get the lease amount of per-pupil funding. Torrance Unified will have to wait until 2020 until the district funding returns to 2007 levels. However, district leaders have stated repeatedly that even then, the district was drastically underfunded. Residents in Palos Verdes expressed outrage that in spite of supporting Prop 30, their schools are getting less money, yet the state legislature wants to extend those taxes indefinitely.

Why are strong districts in the South Bay getting less money? Al Muratsuchi did not deliver on his promise to fund our schools and spare them from the cost-cutting and spend-thrift failures of Sacramento.

Republican challenger David Hadley has pressed another issue in connection with local control: granting the cities of Lomita and Gardena the authority to establish their own school districts free from Los Angeles Unified.

This measure is a brilliant move, politically as well as economically and morally.

There is no issue which drives civic-minded minority communities than access to a quality education. Gardena High School has struggled with high dropout rates. In 2011, a student brought a gun on campus, which discharged and wounded students. The dysfunction in Los Angeles Unified has hindered local leaders from helping their schools in the area.



Add caption

Lomita is safe and welcoming community, yet wealthy families choose to downsize and live in Torrance because they do not want their children going to LA Schools. Granting the cities of Gardena and Lomita the opportunities to found their own school districts would ensure more accountability from local leaders. Families looking for a welcoming community will consider Lomita because many couples look for good schools when relocating.


Why hasn't Assemblyman Muratsuchi pressed this issue? Wiseburn School District leaders and parents worked tirelessly for years to break away from Centinela Valley Union High School District. Depite lawsuits and environmental reports, local activists persevered. Independent superintendent Donald Brann worked with lawmakers in Sacramento as well as bureaucrats in Los Angeles County Office of Education to bring more students into the district from underserved communities. This district had closed the achievement gap between white and minority students, yet lawmakers were not paying attention. While Centinela Valley was spending millions on lawsuits and administrative perks, Wiseburn continued to serve students and help them excel.

Following a voting initiative 2013, 91% of Wiseburn residents voted to break away from Centinela Valley and form their own unified school district. Democratic lawmakers in Sacramento helped push these reforms through the legislature to the Governor's desk. Assemblyman Muratsuchi certainly could have done something to get the process started for Lomita and Gardena.

Yet he did nothing.

The South Bay needs representatives who will work as hard as Wiseburn residents to help Lomita and Gardena form their own school districts. Muratsuchi's claims of working across the aisle for the South Bay is hollow rhetoric, especially when residents face the grim prospects of moving to expensive neighborhoods or suffering in poorly-administered LAUSD schools.

The South Bay deserves better, read education reforms.

Al Muratsuchi: Tea Party "Extremist"

Before his election to the California State Assembly, Al Muratsuchi served as a prosecutor for the California Department of Justice, and then as a Torrance School Board member.

Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi

Every lawyer in the state of California takes the following oath upon admission to the state bar:

I solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of an attorney and a counsel at law to the best of my knowledge and ability.

Every school board member takes a similar oath once installed in their elected office:

"I, ______, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter...."

In both of these oaths, whether for attorney or school board member, the supremacy and integrity of the United States Constitution is unquestioned and upheld.

Muratsuchi took these two oaths. Regardless of whether he lived up to the promises he made in those oaths, he served in two public capacities with the express intention of upholding and defending the United States Constitution.

Where does the Tea Party Movement stand on the United States Constitution?

From the Tea Party Movement Platform:

5. Abide by the Constitution of the United States - The U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land and must be adhered to without exception at all levels of government. This includes the Bill of Rights and other Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and their provisions designed to protect states’ rights and individual liberties.

The Tea Party Movement respects the Constitution, and recognizes the instrument as the final legal authority, one which must be adhered to. In contrast to a federal government which has overreached into education (Bush), health care (Obama), military interventions (Bush and Obama), as well as aggravated deficit spending and soaring national debt (Bush and Obama), the Tea Party Movement mobilized across the country demanding that politicians in Washington abide by the clearly enumerated powers delegated to the federal government in the United States Constitution, and nothing more.

Tea Party "Extremist"

So, on this essential and crucial element, Muratsuchi and the Tea Party are actually in full agreement.

Therefore, Muratsuchi himself is a Tea Party "Extremist", even though he has cast his opponent under a negative pall with Tea Party taunts in mailer after mailer.

How can he attack a movement, and a support of that movement, when by his words and his office he supports the same causes?


Hirabayashi - Tea Party Extremist?

On another note, a well-known Japanese-American dissenter, Gordon Hirabayashi, refused to obey the federal government's curfew during World War II. Acting on his strong beliefs, including his fervent stance in the Constitution, he found that friends and family did not support his decision to resist unjust, prejudiced curfews.

Notwithstanding the setbacks he faced, he claimed a higher authority:

The United States Constitution is supposed to protect us.

He was eventually jailed for violating curfew, and spent time in federal camps. In the decades which followed, Hirabayashi challenged the convictions, which were later vacated, although the federal government never overturned the laws which criminalized individuals for their presence in public places in connection with their ethnic status.

Hirabayashi resisted those laws by appealing to the United States Constitution. He recognized that document as the supreme law of the land.

Would Muratsuchi have branded Hirabayashi a Tea Party "Extremist" as well?

Peaceful dissenter Gordon Hirabayahi
Would Assemblyman Muratsuchi consider him an extremist, too?

Muratsuchi for Better Skools

Oh my goodness.

This advertisement gaffe escapes rational discussion.

Democrats have a disdain for neighborhood harmony, anyway, as well as local control.

But for them to expose their disrespect for neighborhoods with spelling errors . . . this is just sad.

Maybe Assemblyman Muratsuchi does not hate the Tea Party Extremists.

Maybe he opposes the Tee Party or the T-Party extremists.

There are those who cannot play baseball properly, so they are dependent on having a batting tee in front of them in order to play ball.

Then there are those people who shouldn't be batting at all.

Money Heats Up in the 66th

Al says to the CA Dems: "Show me the money!"

 

Despite budget shortfalls, layoffs, and declining readership, the Los Angeles Times continues to carry water for the demeaning Democratic Party brand in the state of California.

In their latest piece on the vulnerable freshman Democrats in Sacramento, the paper published an impressive photo of Assemblyman Muratsuchi seated in the cockpit of an airplane.

Free advertising, free campaign literature for the Democratic candidate, courtesy of the Los Angles Times.

Vulnerable Assembly Democrats are locked in tight fundraising races with their GOP challengers, according to campaign finance reports filed Monday. 
 
Assemblyman Steve Fox, a Democrat from Palmdale, raised nearly $540,000 from July 1 to Sept. 30, and spent just under $530,000. Fox, a freshman legislator who won his 2012 race by just 145 votes, had nearly $160,000 at the end of the reporting period.

Steve Fox should not have won that seat in 2012. The district is majority Republican to begin with, and bad politicking lost this otherwise easy pick-up.

Republican challenger Tom Lackey, a Palmdale city councilmember, brought in almost $660,000 in that time. He spent $737,000 and had just under $170,000 cash on hand on Sept. 30.

Heads will roll in the California Republican Party leadership if they do not regain this seat.

In a contested Orange County race, incumbent Democrat Sharon Quirk-Silva of Fullerton spent heavily in the last quarter, more than $950,000. She raised more than $560,000 in the same time period and entered the final campaign stretch with just under $130,000 in the bank.

Her opponent, Young Kim, a former aide to Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton), brought in around $460,000. She spent $470,000 and had $545,000 on hand at the end of September.

 

Chris Norby lost this seat in 2012, in part because he did not campaign as though there would be a major challenge to the seat. The California GOP should not have lost this seat, either.

 

The first priority is get rid of Fox, and the Republicans should have no problem doing that. Young Kim should be able to score an upset against Quirk-Silva.

 

Then there's the third Assembly Seat Target: the 66th Assembly seat in the South Bay:

 

Republicans are also aiming to unseat Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance). The freshman Democrat raised almost $440,000 last quarter and spent more than $700,000. He had more than $510,000 in his coffers as of Sept. 30.

David Hadley. a Manhattan Beach businessman, is the GOP contender. He brought in just over $300,000 and spent around $200,000. He ended the reporting period with more than $470,000 cash on hand.

Hadley beat his opponent in the primary by five hundred votes, in a race where there were no other Republican or Democratic candidates. Independent fiscal conservative Seth Stodder was interested in the state assembly seat, too, but switched to the state senate race once Lieu switch his campaign to replace the retiring Congressman Henry Waxman.

Hadley has a clear pathway to the general election so far. He also caught statewide attention for unifying dispersed groups and interests. Operatives within the district reckoned that the California Democratic Party would spend two million dollars on this seat.

And it looks as if their investment may not pay off this year.

Muratsuchi Calls Tea Party "Extremist" - Is This True?

Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) is facing a heated reelection challenge this cycle.

In one of his latest mailers, he tarnished his opponent as a Tea Party extremist.

Is the Tea Party movement extreme?

From the last days of the Bush Administration to today, this movement has protested the rapid expansion of the federal government into the economy (bailouts for banks and corporations), our health care system (ObamaCare), and our financial systems (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Dodd-Frank bill).

These incursions have created a sluggish recovery which has benefited the wealthy and well-connected, a health care system frustrated with bureaucracy, doctor shortages and cost increases, and a financial sector which profits Wall Street at the expense of Main Street.

For extremism, look no further than a Democratic legislature which has brought transgenderism to our public schools, granted drivers licenses to illegal immigrants, forced the minimum wage, and imposed regulatory burdens on small businesses.

In other words, Assemblyman Muratsuchi’s agenda in Sacramento.

So, why label a movement extreme? The Tea Party Movement has pushed back against the role of the state in our lives. The politicians in Washington have frustrated the aggressive advancement of the government into our lives, as well.

Frustration means gridlock, and produces a "do-nothing" Congress.

The economy is not strong, and people are still looking for work, or they have given up. They expected Congress to do something, even extending unemployment benefits and food stamps, but the federal government has stood in the way of these measures, too.

Voters are angry because the government is getting anything done to alleviate their immediate sufferings, or their economic setbacks.

People get angry at anyone who seems to prevent solutions to their problems. Yet more government has created the problems people are struggling with in their lives.

The last time one party had complete control over Congress and the White House, they tried to force Cap-and-Trade on the country, followed by the Affordable Care Act, which has forced employees into part-time status, while pressuring businesses to raise their operation costs or close down. How does a sluggish economy recover when insurance mandates make it more difficult to turn a profit and earn a living?

Democratic candidates do not debate issues. They attack their opponents with personal slights. Tea Party Extremism is an easy line which emboldens a liberal base to turn out and vote against a challenger.

Muratsuchi needs all the help he can stir up this year. President Obama has depressed his ardent supporters, and his policies are grossly unpopular. His low approval ratings in  his sixth year rival the poor polling numbers of President George W. Bush and Bill Clinton during their sixth year in office.

No, the Tea Party Movement is not extremist, yet the tag-line "extreme" is the last-ditch effort to get disaffected Democrats to vote.

Will it work in 2014? Probably not, with a GOP surge rising across the country, and some strong Republican statewide contenders (whom the major California newspapers have endorsed), Muratsuchi is facing a wave of Republican enthusiasm and a receding tide of Democratic disappointment.

Murastuchi Buying Votes in Hermosa Beach

State lawmaker introduces bill to help Hermosa Beach fight oil drilling proposal

Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance), speaking at a press conference convened on Friday, April 25, 2014, to announce his bill that will address the oil drilling settlement in Hermosa Beach. (Submitted photo)

By Sandy Mazza, Daily Breeze

Posted: 04/25/14, 3:03 PM PDT|Updated: 3 mins ago

0 Comments

Two state lawmakers opposed to a proposed oil and gas drilling project in Hermosa Beach announced legislation Friday that would make it easier for the city’s voters to turn it down later this year.
Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, D-Torrance, and Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Redondo Beach, told anti-oil supporters gathered on Pier Plaza that they would work to gather support for AB 2711, a bill that would provide the city with a no-interest, $17.5 million loan.
The money would be used for a one-time settlement fee with E&B Natural Resources Management Corp. of Bakersfield if the company does not win voter approval of its plan to install 34 wells near the coast and drill underground to tap the Torrance Oil Field.

Under terms of a settlement with another oil company, the city would required to pay $17.5 million to E&B if the project is rejected. The vote is tentatively scheduled to take place in November.
“AB 2711 would loan state funds to the city from state tideland oil revenues to cover this financial penalty,” Muratsuchi said. “I love Hermosa Beach. I love the hippy beach vibe of this little community. This city is a strong leader in the fight to protect our environment.”
The Muratsuchi-authored bill is in response to a 2012 legal settlement between the city and MacPhearson Oil over rights to drill, which the city approved in the 1980s but then rescinded with a resident-approved initiative in 1995. The settlement lets the city off the hook, with the condition that voters be allowed to decide whether E&B can drill.

Muratsuchi, who is campaigning for re-election, said the state would loan the funds from its general fund, where oil and gas revenues are deposited by the State Lands Commission. The city would be required to pay at least $500,000 a year until the sum is repaid, and those payments would be placed in the State Coastal Conservancy Fund for its Climate Ready Program.
Along with Muratsuchi and Lieu, congressional candidate Wendy Greuel also announced her opposition this week to E&B’s proposed drilling project.

“I’ve always opposed oil drilling along our coast,” Lieu said Friday. “I can’t really think of anything more stupid than drilling along our coastline. This is an ingenious bill that I believe will help resolve our situation.”
E&B Natural Resources spokesman Eric Rose said company officials are a bit bewildered by AB 2711.
“During the past two years, city officials and community activists have consistently and forcefully stated that the city has the financial capacity to repay the $17.5 million loan E&B provided,” Rose said. “This loan allowed the city to avoid bankruptcy and to end 14 years of litigation with MacPherson Oil Co. The loan repayment will not be necessary if Hermosa Beach voters agree to once again allow safe oil recovery at the city’s maintenance yard.”

Some residents have actively campaigned against the proposal for about two years through a grass-roots organization called Stop Hermosa Beach Oil, which has placed signs around town reading “Keep Hermosa Hermosa” and worked to get political support opposing the project.
Representatives from Heal the Bay, Sierra Club, Los Angeles Waterkeeper, and other local environmental groups attended Friday’s press conference to show their support for AB 2711.
Stacey Armato, an environmental activist and founder of Stop Hermosa Beach Oil, praised the bill, which has been introduced in the Assembly and will be heard in committee on Monday.

“This offer of a $17.5 million interest-free loan makes it easier for voters to make decisions to protect the health and safety of our community,” Armato said.
Hermosa Beach officials have been setting aside funds to cover a settlement, if necessary. Of the $17.5 million, about $6 million already has been saved. Officials have said the balance would be paid off with annual payments of $850,000 to $1 million.
But if AB 2711 passes and the city accepts a no-interest loan, those payments likely would be reduced significantly.

Highlights From March 15, 2014 Muratsuchi Coffee

Coffee With Muratsuchi

Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi had a coffee meet-n-greet at Catalina Coffee and Café in Redondo Beach on Saturday, March 15.

I arrived at 2pm, where I met Vic Locicero, who right away was talking with Muratsuchi about the transgendered bathroom law.

While Vic shared his concerns, I also added why he supported a bill which a number of residents in the South Bay do not support.

Muratsuchi claimed that the procedures were already in place in other school districts, and the law just codified it for all the schools in California.

Often, we ended up arguing about issues

"Then I guess we will have to respectfully disagree," Muratsuchi would recite from time to time.

I then asked him about the law which permits illegal immigrants to obtain drivers' licenses. He had told me prior that signed off on the legislation based on the suggestion of law enforcement, that allowing anyone to get a drivers' license, regardless of their citizenship status, would make our streets safer.

I countered: "Do you ask any of the police chiefs in the South Bay?"

He hesitated, then offered that he might have done so. Might have? One would think that the representative for the South Bay would consider the opinion of law enforcement leaders in his own district.

Frankly, Muratsuchi spends more time justifying these votes, when the fact remains that his votes on these issues is merely a rubber stamp for an aggressive, progressive agenda, one more regressive than anything else.

After that, I mentioned the statistics about the most Hispanic state in the Union, New Mexico, where the Hispanic Governor, Susana Martinez, wants to repeal similar legislation in her state because the law has not created safer roads, and has even invited fraud.

He was not aware of those statistics, apparently, either. Over a decade ago, the voters in the state of California forced a repeal of a similar statute. How far the state leadership has fallen.

Muratsuchi justified many of these decisions by pointing out that he took the experts' opinion on these issues.

The experts are often wrong, or often limited in their understanding of key issues. Muratsuchi was elected to represent the best interests of the voters in his district and uphold the state and federal constitution. He already failed to do this when he voted to allow illegal immigrants to get drivers' licenses. Unconstitutional violation of the supremacy clause, which places federal statutes above state laws.

I then pressed Muratsuchi about raising the state minimum wage. I recalled that he had agreed to the raise, provided that the language tagging the increase to the rate of inflation was removed. I asked him once again why he did it.

"It was time for a wage increase."

I told him that many economists resist minimum wage increases, which increase unemployment along with forcing up prices on goods. He told me about reports which he had read, "many, many reports".

His assistance, Melissa Uribe, was at hand, and she agreed to contact me with the information which Muratsuchi appealed to in order to justify voting for legislation which would force up the minimum wage in the state of California.

As of Tuesday, March 18, I contacted Ms. Uribe once again, and she told me that she was meeting with the individuals who offered the information.

Then, another South Bay resident, Mike Shields of Redondo Beach then showed up. He started discussing the negative impacts of the minimum wage increase. He argued at length, and cogently, too, that the minimum wage increase leads to more layoffs.

This kind of discussion is what I  was looking for. I wanted to hold the Assemblyman accountable for voting for these bills which have no value, merit, and have caused more harm than good.

I tried to find some things that he did which I agree with -- his proposed legislation which would require transparency for school superintendent salaries, for example:

"Finally, we agree on something!"

I then asked him why he did join with State Senator Fran Pavley (D-Ventura) to block or end the bullet train boondoggle. I also shared that State Senator Ted Lieu voted with the Republicans against referral to expel convicted felon Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood)

At any rate, I was hoping that more people would attend the Muratsuchi coffee in order to hold him accountable for the offensive legislation which he had supported.

On another note, I started talking with a Hermosa Beach resident. On his green shirt was written "Keep Hermosa Hermosa". I started asking him his stance on the E and B oil drilling. His reason for opposition: he was a staunch believer in climate change, and he also feared the potential dangers of an oil spill. He then admitted that of the E and B company demonstrated good faith and planning to deal with oil spills, he would be willing to reconsider whether E and B can drill for oil.

Frankly, my discussion with "Hermosa" was very productive, I just wish that more people could have been there to make their case about the bills which Muratsuchi had voted for, and the bills which need to be considered: school choice: better, simpler tax structure.

I am still waiting to hear from Ms. Uribe regarding the information which justified a state-forced minimum wage increase.

Coffee With Muratsuchi, Anyone?

Want a Cup of Coffee with Me?
It's Free (For me. . .You Paid for it!)

Assemblyman Muratsuchi will host a free coffee talk at Catalina Coffee and Café

on March 15, from 1pm to 3pm.

Here's a print out of the event on Muratsuchi's website:

Join Assemblymember Muratsuchi for a free cup of coffee at Catalina Coffee & Cafe. This is a great opportunity to visit and discuss state and legislative issues that affect the community.

No RSVP needed for this event.

Saturday, March 15, 2014

  1 – 3 p.m.

Catalina Coffee & Café

  126 N. Catalina Avenue
Redondo Beach, CA 90277

I plan on being there, and I hope that every able-bodied and enraged voter in the South Bay will be there, too, to confront Muratsuchi on key issues affecting the South Bay.

Here are a list of issues which concerned residents in the city should discuss:

1. Forcing up minimum wage, which raises prices, unemployment, while reducing available jobs.

2. Drivers licenses for illegals -- how this may make our streets less safe..

3. AB 1266, the transgender bathroom bill for public schools.

4. His massive union money support.

5. Why he is pursuing green technology, yet said nothing about a car plant moving to Michigan.

6. Why he supported the Local Control Funding Formula , which actually takes money away from South Bay Schools (including PV)

7. Why he claimed to be a moderate, when he has supported a liberal-Democratic-unionist agenda 95% of the time

8. Why he supported a bill which would allow other medical staff besides a doctor to conduct an abortion.

The list goes on and on. Please pick any one issue which affects you the most, and pleas come to the free coffee and share this concern with the Assemblyman.

This man has got to go.

Need I remind you: the coffee is free (perhaps taxpayer funded, though . .)

Bird's Flighty Reason For Reelecting Muratsuchi

This kind of fawning politicization is unjustified and unconscionable.

PVE Councilmember
George Bird

Palos Verdes Estates Councilmember George Bird, a registered Republican, and an elected Republican in a Republican stronghold, opted to endorse a Democrat for the state Assembly in 2012, despite the strong credentials of the Republican candidate, and the unprecedented severity (and deleterious consequences) of the 2012 election.

In the Friday, February 14 edition of the Daily Breeze, Bird's letter was published regarding Assemblyman Muratsuchi's decision to run for reelection instead of seeking higher office this year:

Reward Muratsuchi for not seeking a higher office

Re “Muratsuchi says he’ll run for re-election” (Feb. 7):

How refreshing to see a member of the Assembly choose to stay and continue to serve those who elected him instead of jumping at the first opportunity to run for the state Senate.

There is nothing refreshing, let alone remarkable or significant, about a politician choosing to run for reelection. How is this refreshing, again? Such rhetoric defies definition, requires explanation.

Al Muratsuchi has placed the citizens of the 66th Assembly District before his self-interest by not running for the next office. Al Muratsuchi has well served the interest of the 66th District during his freshman year. The experience he gained will serve him well during his next term.

How did Assemblyman Muratsuchi serve his constituents by signing onto legislation which would permit illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses, a measure which violates the United States' immigration laws, as well as the United States Constitution?

Muratsuchi was not serving the South Bay business community by agreeing to a minimum wage increase, which will only force out entry level workers, including young, minority employees seeking to enter the job market, especially during these difficult economic times.

Local leaders have criticized Muratsuchi's reticence to vote "Yea" or "Nay"  on a number of bills. Not much integrity there. He sponsored an aerospace forum, which very few businesses attended. Not much leadership there, either. He waffled on the minimum wage increase by asking for the legislature to remove language which would tie the increase to the rate of inflation. Still, he assisted hurting small businesses even more in the state of California.

And what leadership has Muratsuchi demonstrated on comprehensive pension reform, or tax reform, or the reduction in regulations?

He also supported AB 1266, legislation which will permit students of decided gender (transgender students) to enter the bathroom of their choice with other students. This unseemly law motivated local leaders to promote an initiative to vote down this outrageous legislation.
 
The constituents of our district recognize that the personal integrity of the candidate and his demonstrated ethics are more important than whether he or she is a Republican or a Democrat. Let’s elect good people, not political opportunists.

With all due respect, Muratsuchi had indeed shown some interest in seeking higher office. Even though the Los Angeles Times and later the Daily Breeze covered for the Democratic lawmaker, there is no hiding the fact that Muratuschi was looking for any opportunity not to run for reelection in a district with a rising Republican resurgence, in which the Democratic brand has been tarnished not just by a tax-and-spend liberal supermajority in Sacramento, but also a distant, hyper

Bravo to an individual who recognizes that we elected him to do a job and we don’t expect him to always be looking for his next higher political office.

Muratsuchi deserves no bows, Bravos, or applause for warming a seat, sought and paid for by public sector unions. Even if Muratsuchi had intended to serve exclusively as an Assemblyman for this election, no one can tell whether this lawmaker will seek higher office or not. State Senator Ted Lieu has demonstrated twice before his first interest in seeking higher office (and serving his interests at the expense of the public interest.)

If we ignore the self-interest of Muratsuchi, we certainly cannot ignore the pandering from Mr. Bird. Is he looking for favors from Assemblyman Muratsuchi? Have Republican leaders become convinced that the only way they can accomplish anything is to acquiesce to Democratic dominance in the state of California? Rhode Island and Massachusetts are facing unprecedented budget an pension shortfalls, with a mass exodus of residents tired of taxes, regulations, and a fraudulent Democratic political hegemony which has bled businesses and wealth dry while enabling dependence and poverty.

Now more than ever, Constitutional conservatives, respect for the limited government and fiscal discipline, and most importantly the proper domains of the state regarding the identity of students an their liberty to learn free from social engineering, are values worth fighting for. Muratsuchi does not fight for these values.

While the former school board member advertised himself as a moderate in comparison to a Tea-Party backed conservative (Huey was not a Tea Party candidate, another leftist smear), Muratsuchi has tilted, or rather fall in line with the out-of-touch liberal leanings of the current state legislature. He is indeed too extreme for the South Bay, and should not seek reelection to any statewide office.

Let’s reward the lack of self-interest and the lack of self-promoting by someone who puts us before him, by re-electing Al Muratsuchi to the Assembly.

Once again, there is nothing commendable about a candidate choosing to run for reelection for his current office instead of seeking higher office. This kind of compliment is akin to thanking people for obeying the law, or congratulating people for getting dressed before they leave their homes for work.


— George Bird, Palos Verdes Estates

The voters in Palos Verdes Estates should ask their Councilman why he continues to support a politician whose values clash, rather than complement, the values of the South Bay, particularly registered voters in the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

I emailed Mr. Bird the following:

As a registered Republican in the South Bay, why did you endorse Democrat Muratsuchi for election in 2012, and reelection in 2014?

David Hadley has announced and mounted a sizeable campaign to represent the 66th Assembly District.

Your letter gave the impression that you are seeking a higher office with Muratsuchi's help.

Please explain your insistence on supporting a liberal Democrat who had advertised himself as a moderate, especially since you are a registered Republican.

Bird certainly owes his constituents an explanation for his flighty reasons for supporting Assemblyman Muratsuchi's reelection.

Muratsuchi Mum About Roderick Wright (and Bob Filner)

S

Muratsuchi: See no evil. . .

Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) wanted to run for state senate earlier this month, convinced that party leaders would allow him to jump out of his not-so-safe Assembly seat nestled in the heart of the South Bay. At least taking on a state senate seat, connected with more progressive voting blocks throughout the Santa Monica Bay, would let him play out all his liberal leaning.

State Senator Ted Lieu laid the ground work for a more liberal voter constituency, yet Democratic Party Leaders told Muratsuchi to stand down and run for reelection in his own seat.

Muratsuchi has pedaled back, bracing for a major challenge to his incumbency

Yet even though Muratsuchi has given up on a state senate run, he still has nothing  about convicted felon Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood), who remains in the state senate, even though three Republicans have called for a vote to expel him.

Roderick Wright has been convicted on eight counts of voter fraud and perjury, as he listed his legal address within his district, yet he actually lived outside the district. Big problem.

Muratsuchi has said nothing about his convicted felon Democratic colleague.

In 1994, state senator Frank Hill (R-Whittier), following a conviction for bribery, was forced to step down from committee assignments, then the state senate government committee voted to expel him. He left office. There is no excuse for state legislators to remain silent as Roderick Wright stays in the state senate.

Then again, Muratsuchi has chosen to "see no evil" before, as when resigned, disgraced San Diego Mayor Bob Filner of San Diego had harassed a number of women in his staff, yet no one in the state Democratic delegation demanded that Filner step down. San Diego Republicans launched a recall effort, but Filner finally stepped down, and later paid a settlement to his accusers.

The South Bay should not send Muratsuchi back to Sacramento in 2014. Muratsuchi has no business serving in the state legislature as long as he insists on remaining silent in the face of one felony politician after another.

Muratsuchi Running for State. . .Assembly (Promise!)

PHow about that?

Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) took in less money over six months than GOP candidate David Hadley (R-Manhattan Beach) in four months.

Not only that, but Muratsuchi attempted to bolt from his Assembly race and run for state senate.

The Los Angeles Times gives the full story on the rush for Ted Lieu's state senate seat:

State Sen. Ted Lieu’s announcement that he is running for an open congressional seat has sparked interest in his Senate seat from a crowd of possible contenders, including Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi and former Assemblywoman Betsy Butler.

Betsy Butler lost her seat in the new assembly district which included Santa Monica and Malibu, in part because she helped kill SB 1530, which would have made it easier to get rid of perverted teachers in the classroom.

Is Muratsuchi worried about the onslaught he will face in 2014.

In spite of his projected interest in the seat, the LA Times retracted its (or Muratsuchi's) story:

"I AM running for reelection in AD-66"
(The Party Bosses Told Me So!)

Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) said Thursday he will run for reelection rather than join a crowded field of contenders for a state Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Ted Lieu.
His reason for staying in the 66th, according to the LA Times?:

Muratsuchi said he and his family love living in the South Bay and serving the 66^th Assembly District.

Right. Of course, let us never forget that the California Democratic Party takes it very seriously about the chain of command, and that candidates need to get in line with the party leadership before choosing to run for office.

Ted Lieu jumped into the Congressional race, and the Dems in California already know that they will see millions go up in flames in a 33rd intraparty blood bath, and that will happen before the June Primary!

If two Dems advance to the general election, the Dems will have Berman-Sherman Part Deux!

Certainly Democratic Party bosses want to avoid as much blood-letting as possible.

Then Muratsuchi declared:

“After years of budget cuts and partisan bickering, California is coming back,” he said in a statement. “ I look forward to continuing to fight for good jobs, good schools, safe neighborhoods and a clean and healthy environment.”
Muratsuchi believes that California is coming back, even though businesses are fleeing the state, and the local schools in his assembly district are still operating on a shoe-string to get through every year.

He wants to fight for good jobs. . .Here is the LA Times take on his attempt to keep aerospace jobs in the South Bay:

By the slimmest of margins, aerospace giant Boeing Co.'s largest union approved a controversial contract proposal that cut benefits in exchange for decades of work in Puget Sound on a new jetliner.

Washington State union locals were willing to relent on pensions and benefits to keep their jobs in the state. "An injury to one is an injury to all" has given way to "look out for yours, and forget about theirs."

Unions must realize that they have to compete with each other now, since businesses can move their operations to "right-to-work states", of which twenty-four were vying for Boeing's business.


Muratsuchi's resigned response:

"Obviously, California would have loved to bring the 777X program home," said Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance), chairman of the Assembly's Select Committee on Aerospace. "But we'll continue to reach out to Boeing to try and bring manufacturing jobs to Long Beach."

 It's funny that Muratsuchi wants to bring business to Long Beach, even though he represents the South Bay. Why is it that he stumps about commerce outside his own district so much? Maybe it's due to the fact that he gets most of his dwindling resources from oustide the district in the first place. . .

Muratsuch is running for reelection, yet the political landscape, both nationally and locally, is looking nasty for Democrats and liberals, especially as local leaders are pooling their resources and pulling their energy behind one candidate to take down Muratsuchi and end the Democratic supermajority in Sacramento.